Printed
January 15, 2025
Jean-Marc Loubier, CEO of the Belgian luxurious home Delvaux, acquired by the Swiss group Richemont in 2021, has simply arrived in Costa Mesa, a city in Orange County, east of Los Angeles, the place the South Coast Plaza luxurious mall is situated. The posh model, which makes a speciality of baggage, has simply opened its second retailer within the U.S., 5 years after New York, and its 62nd deal with worldwide. FashionNetwork.com caught up with the CEO for an replace on the opening and the model’s roll-out within the U.S.
Jean-Marc Loubier, CEO of luxurious home Delvaux – DR
FashionNetwork: You have simply arrived in Los Angeles at a dramatic time with the fires, however one when the state of affairs appears to be bettering. How do these occasions make you’re feeling?
Jean-Marc Loubier: I’ve simply arrived in Orange County, however I did not wish to cease in Los Angeles and be voyeuristic. Like everybody else, I have been following the pictures. Mates have misplaced their properties, their reminiscences, and it is affecting lots of people, even right here in South Coast Plaza. Many individuals are being repatriated to Orange County, in an space that isn’t threatened.
FNW: You have simply opened your first retailer in California, 5 years after New York. How would you sum up your New York journey?
J.M.L.: The American market is an important one for us. It is a large nation the place folks know quite a bit about luxurious. We have been very effectively established in New York since 2019, with a retailer in a exceptional location. A spot designed as an embassy, situated on fifth Avenue and dealing with Central Park. It is not only a retailer, but in addition a spot to go to, which has proved to be a really profitable operation, reaching each American prospects and the entire world. FNW: Why did you select this mall in South Coast Plaza to your second location?
J.M.L.: At Delvaux, we work on vertical integration. We design, develop and manufacture in our personal workshops in Belgium and France, and promote in our personal shops. Our firm has been the world’s oldest leather-based items producer since 1829. We invented the primary fashionable purse with the submitting of a patent in 1908, and all our shops are designed as locations of welcome and alternate. We strategy them with out standardization or repetition ideas. Every deal with is exclusive in its location and the way in which we design it. At Delvaux, the notions of tradition, historical past, originality, creation and projection into the longer term are essential. We would have liked a exceptional location within the west aspect of the US, and we discovered it in South Coast Plaza. South Coast Plaza is the opposite coronary heart of California. An exquisite mall owned by the revered Sergerstrom household. We’ll be at Rodeo Drive in the future, however within the meantime we’re banking on this mall, one of many most interesting within the U.S.
The façade of the brand new Delvaux boutique at South Coast Plaza – Delvaux
FNW: How did you provide you with this new deal with? J.M.L: We imagined it as a retailer on the road, with a large façade that evokes California. Prospects will really feel at house right here, strolling round extraordinary items reminiscent of this folding display present in Paris. Areas have been created for dialogue and alternate, notably round our bar situated on the entrance, an area created to not distribute beer however to create an off-the-cuff contact the place the individual will not really feel trapped by an imposed speech. We attempt to carry a sure lightness to sharing data and creating contact. Delvaux is a exceptional home, however you have got to have the ability to clarify it, make folks really feel it, inform its story. Therefore, the significance we place on selecting our groups. Workers with character who respect and grasp our story and share it with our prospects. A technique which explains why we promote our merchandise solely in our shops. FNW: What sort of ambiance have you ever imagined for this retailer? J.M.L: Delvaux is certainly an enormous firm, however we do not have an enormous notoriety. We’re a model for many who know. We’re 200 years outdated, and our strategy is to take the time to share our story. Our references to high quality and creativity contact our prospects. We’re not stylish. Every bag because the Pin or the Brillant, tells a narrative that can contact potential prospects and preserve them coming again. FNW: How robust is the competitors from luxurious manufacturers on this mall? J.M.L: I do not know of a single main model that does not have a presence in South Coast Plaza as we speak. Everyone seems to be working arduous to open stunning shops. The mall’s administration is especially eager to welcome homes with important natural improvement. It is not only a stack of manufacturers. They’ve been very receptive to our location technique in different elements of the world, reminiscent of New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. In addition they appreciated the truth that we weren’t duplicating our idea, that we have been outdoors the overall standardization. The concept of Brussels assembly Southern California satisfied them.
The bar space within the new Delvaux retailer at South Coast Plaza – Delvaux
FNW: What does Orange County’s clientele appear like? J.M.L: It is a very numerous clientele. A whole lot of Individuals, in fact, but in addition folks of very totally different ethnic origins, from China, Korea and Taiwan. All of them share the identical luxurious tradition as in Los Angeles. Extra typically, our prospects are pioneers, who domesticate a sure elitism, who are usually not frantic shoppers, who’re concerned about our values, who prefer to put on issues for a very long time and are glad to introduce our firm to their group. We’re about want and pleasure, not consumption. FNW: Do you put money into celebrities and influencers? J.M.L: We work with celebrities and influencers, however our major affect is our potential prospects. The acceleration of our notoriety comes at the beginning from the standard of our places, which can assist us reinforce our improvement. We additionally put loads of vitality into our occasions, significantly throughout Paris Vogue Week. Subsequent March, we’ll we current a week-long installation-performance that individuals can uncover at their very own tempo.
FNW: By way of progress, what does the American market symbolize for Delvaux? J.M.L: Our progress is powerful and our momentum is excessive, however we’re nonetheless within the early levels of our improvement, with two shops within the U.S. to this point. We’ve a longer-established presence in Japan, Korea and Belgium. And we’re making inroads within the Center East in Dubai. In 2011, Delvaux generated 97% of its gross sales in Belgium. In the present day, the export market represents between 90 and 95% of whole gross sales. Issues have modified.
A folding display introduced again from Paris to design the primary Delvaux boutique in California – Delvaux
FNW: The place can the model develop in the US? J.M.L: We hope to determine ourselves in Los Angeles, in fact, but in addition in different markets reminiscent of Texas and Florida. Our success lies find extraordinary places. And we take the time to not compromise on this. Then it is about being appreciated, present and making a group round you. That is the key of our success.
